20 Mbps ADSL2+ in SA

20 Mbps ADSL2+ for under R400 per month; 40 Mbps ADSL2+ multilink service for under R800

In early 2007 reports started emerging that Telkom was trialing ADSL2+, a technology with a theoretical downlink speed of 24 Mbps.  At the time Telkom said that all new DSLAMs deployed on the Telkom network will be ADSL2+ enabled.
 
In mid-2008 ADSL2+ again made headlines when Telkom Media laid out plans to use Telkom’s ADSL network to serve its IPTV needs.  Telkom however said at the time that doubling the speed of its 4Mbps service is not a simple process as it must be accompanied by suitable backhaul upgrades to the network to support the higher access speeds.  Telkom further said that it plans to increase ADSL speeds to 10 Mbps by 2011
 
It was recently confirmed that Telkom’s 8 Mbps ADSL trials are now in full swing, but one local broadband provider feels that the wait is simply too long and that an upgrade to 8 Mbps is not enough to serve the high end broadband market.  ADSL2+ (ITU G.992.5) is commonplace in the developed world, which means SA is a generation behind in terms of ADSL access.
 
iBurst steps in
 
iBurst Business has now announced that they have officially launched their own 20 Mbps ADSL2+ service to the South African market.  iBurst CEO Jannie van Zyl said that many consumers and businesses have been waiting for years for an upgrade of ADSL speeds to world standards, he added that the extended wait and touted speed upgrades are not good enough. “ADSL has been in jail, and we intend to set it free,” said van Zyl.
 
Instead of waiting for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) to arrive in November 2011, iBurst will be utilizing existing copper infrastructure in multi-tenant environments like shopping centers, apartment blocks and gated villages to roll out their own ADSL2+ services.  Van Zyl said that unbeknownst to many people Telkom does not control the entire copper infrastructure in the country, and iBurst will be making the most of these ‘free’ copper networks.

"iBurst has been installing their own infrastructure in gated communities and business parks, typically using fibre or CAT-5 but often there is already copper in the ground and to save time and costs while pushing up speeds, we now run our own DSL service over these,” said van Zyl.
 
iBurst will install their own DSLAMs on the customer premise, and then backhaul the traffic over their own network – either via fiber or microwave links.  The company is already busy with two proof of concept networks in Gauteng, and is confident that their own ADSL2+ solution will soon be available in shopping centres, business parks, apartment buildings and gated villages.
 
Pricing
 
The pricing structure for iBurst’s 20 Mbps ADSL2+ solution will be similar to Telkom’s with an access charge, and where subscribers then purchase data bundles to suit their needs.  One difference is that iBurst will offer a ‘naked DSL’ service with no forced analogue voice line rental.  The ADSL2+ service is compatible with many existing existing ADSL modems used in South Africa today.
 
The final cost structure for the product has not been announced yet, but van Zyl said that the access charge for their 20 Mbps offering will be less than Telkom’s 4 Mbps DSL access tariff which is currently R413 per month.  There will also be 5 Mbps, 10 Mbps and 15 Mbps services available at lower access rates.  All these services will come standard with static IP addresses.
 
The company is also planning to launch a 40Mbps ADSL2+ multilink service – linking two ADSL2+ connections – with an access charge of less than R800 per month.  This service will compete directly against bonded ADSL solutions from Altech Technology Concepts and Vox DataPro Fishbone, and compliment the company’s existing Wireless DSL and MetroNet offerings.
 
Live testing
 
In live testing of the new service in a controlled environment at the iBurst offices in Sandton, actual speeds of the 20 Mbps service came close to the advertised speed.  In multi-threaded downloads the speeds peaked at 19.6 Mbps and downloading the latest Ubuntu Desktop ISO took around 5 minutes to complete.
 
Latency was similar to current ADSL services while uplink speeds were just under 1 Mbps.  iBurst however indicated that they are planning to increase uplink speeds on the service to 3 Mbps. While the service will be available up to 40 Mbps down and 6Mbps up, it is heavily dependent on the quality and distance of the copper network.
 
Ready for LLU
 
Van Zyl said that this venture showed that iBurst is ready to take advantage of local loop unbundling when it arrives in South Africa, and that they will provide the wider South African broadband community with high speed ADSL2+ services when they get access to Telkom’s copper network.
 
iBurst invited parties interested in this new service to contact iBurst Business directly, but reminded them that the iBurst ADSL2+ service can only be made available in environments where there is an existing copper infrastructure which is not controlled by Telkom.

"We would love to roll out this service to all consumers in South Africa. Unfortunately there is that pesky little thing called LLU stopping us today. However, if you're part of a privately owned copper network as many communities, business parks and buildings are, speak to us," van Zyl concluded.

20 Mbps ADSL2+ - discussion

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